Still image film

This filmmaking technique is more common in historical documentaries, where old photographs may provide the best documentation of certain events. Ken Burns is well known for having used it repeatedly in his films.[2] It is less common in narrative films, but has been done occasionally. Such films are typically considered experimental or art films. Perhaps the best known narrative still image film is Chris Marker's 1962 film La Jetée, which was the inspiration for the 1995 film 12 Monkeys.[1]

In narrative filmmaking, the vast majority of still image films are short films. Many student films are still image films, and the making of these films is a requirement in some film school courses. George Lucas's first film, Look at Life, was made up of only still images.[1] Robert Downey Sr.'s 1966 feature film Chafed Elbows is constructed primarily from still photographs, with a few live-action sequences. Additionally, the Mexican film Year of the Nail is made up entirely of photographs taken by the director, Jonás Cuarón, over the course of one year. It is perhaps the only feature-length narrative film consisting exclusively of still images.[3]

Filmmakers working with still images may do so out of necessity, such as when resources are limited and they are only able to shoot still photographs, rather than moving pictures. However, it is also sometimes chosen for stylistic reasons, and can allow the filmmakers to do things that would be impossible with traditional moving pictures. In Chafed Elbows, for example, the filmmakers had the freedom to improvise their lines during post-production. Additionally, the use of still images made possible a scene in which one character appears to throw another out of a high window, while the actors remained safe. Additionally, in Year of the Nail, the director pieced together unstaged photographs from his real life and was able to build a fictional story from these. Furthermore, still image films may decrease the filmmakers' limitations, as dialogue and sound effects need not be synchronized with moving images.

As most audiences are unaccustomed to still image films, many viewers are initially turned off by them, but one study has shown that people adjust to the style after about seven minutes, as long as the story is engaging.[4] There is some debate about whether or not still image films should in fact be considered as genuine motion pictures, since they do not in fact employ the illusion of motion, with some considering them more akin to the slideshow.

The term photomontage has also been used to describe still image films, although that word actually refers to something else entirely.

• La Jetée (1962)[5]
• Look at Life (1965)[1]
• Chafed Elbows (1966)[6][7]
• Nostalgia (1971)[8]
• Santa's Christmas Elf Named Calvin (1971)[9]
• Dog's Dialogue (1977)[10]
• Das Clown (1999)[11]
• Year of the Nail (2007)[12]
• The Glass Fortress (2016)[13]

• Ken Burns
• Robert Downey Jr.
• Chris Marker
• George Lucas
• Hollis Frampton

• Ken Burns effect
• One-shot film
• Found footage film
  • Found footage
• Collage film
• Video essay